The University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) has received a landmark $1.5 million donation that will provide scholarship for nursing students.
This donation – an estate gift provided by Raylene Steelman – is the second largest gift in UAM’s history. The largest, announced in fall 2018, was a donation by the Merle and Deloris Peterson estate that exceeded $6 million.
Steelman, who was a UAM librarian for 37 years made the decision to endow nursing scholarships after receiving care from UAM nursing graduates in her later life. The donation was to remain anonymous until Steelman’s death; she died April 12 at the age of 96.
UAM Chancellor Karla Hughes announced the gift at the university’s nursing program graduation on Thursday, May 9. Speaking to the graduates, Hughes said, “You will absolutely change lives every day,” she said. “Mrs. Steelman learned, over and over, that her own capable nurses had studied at UAM. One nurse, one patient encounter, can have a profound impact on the entire region.”
According to Brandy Haley, UAM School of Nursing dean, the endowment will provide approximately $70,000 annually for nursing students at the university.
UAM offers a range of nursing programs and degrees. On its main campus, it has Associate of Applied Science and Bachelor of Science degree tracks in nursing. There are also LPN-to-RN, LPN-to-BSN, and RN-to-BSN tracks.
The Colleges of Technology, located in Crossett and McGehee, also offer CNA and LPN tracks.
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